To:
Charles Ramcharan
Greetings!
I called Rosi this morning at Porto Cristo. They
were getting supplies on the boat today and they
plan to leave tomorrow morning - if weather is
good. They have a nice west wind today, but
unfortunately they didn't have all the supplies
ready yet. The exact itinerary is a bit unclear
to me, but they are heading east with occassion to
stop off or hide from storms at the south end of
Sardinia, Tunis, the west end of Sicily at Trapani
and at a small island between Italy and Sicily
called Lipari. Some time in there they will also
make it to Malta. Rosi told me that things will
be easier to deal with in Malta since English is
the official language. (Apparently she knows a
bit more about Malta because Abdi, a co-worker at
the VA Hospital, studied there for some time.)
They think that this "mini-crossing" shouldn't
take more than 5 days or so, but Rosi also
mentioned that east winds are fairly common this
time of year, so that may slow them down a bit.
Rosi *just* got a package I sent them before they
left France, so I was happy about that - I sent
them some whale-oriented shirts and a National
Geographic article about Bottlenosed Whales. She
was, however, bemoaning the lack of printed
"Libelle Updates". I told her that the emails
weren't too exciting because we were not getting
the extensive journalistic updates we got before.
She then promised to write a synopsis of the canal
passage. I guess this will be her homework on the
next stretch.
She said it has been nice visiting with family in
Mallorca. Rosi and Jim took Lilo out to "Libelle"
to see the boat. Lilo was very excited and happy
to see the boat, despite the fact that she almost
fell in the water trying to get on board! The
weather has been very hot and swimming is
practically required. Luckily, the beaches around
Porto Cristo are very nice. Jim and Rosi went
snorkeling in and around the caves at "Coves del
Drac" one day and had a really nice time. They
didn't see any big fish, but I suspect that 2000+
years of heavy fishing pressure has taught those
fish to be a little bit timid around people.
She also mentioned that the Med is supposed to
have whales, but she wasn't sure what kind. They
hoped to see some on the next leg of the trip.
When they made the passage from France to
Mallorca, there were lots of "little dolphins"
around the boat. They would jump up high several
times (maybe to get a better look at the boat),
and then they disappeared again. It must be nice
to have other creatures come to greet you in the
middle of the ocean :-)
Well, that's about all for now. I don't know when
or where I will hear from them next, but I hope
it's soon!
Until next time,
Alles Gouda!
Yvonne
